Woman in fight for cancer treatment

A WOMAN battling breast cancer has been turned down for a homeopathic treatment available to NHS patients in London.

Donna Han, of Norfolk Road, West Reading asked her GP for Iscador, a mistletoe-based treatment given at the Royal Homeopathic Hospital in London and available to NHS patients in the capital. But Reading Primary Care Trust turned the request down after taking advice from Mrs Han's oncologist at Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The 30-year-old said: "It is all about money. The London hospitals have a contract with the Royal Homeopathic Hospital and they can refer patients for treatment without any difficulty. Reading PCT doesn't have a contract with them so I can't have the treatment. It is a case of postcode lottery, if I lived in London I could have this treatment on the NHS."

Mrs Han wants Iscador because she believes it will boost her immune system, which she believes is essential to the way she has chosen to fight her breast cancer.

Mrs Han has been pro-active in researching her illness and finding out about every treatment offered to her.

She was diagnosed with the disease in April and had a lumpectomy operation at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford in June. She sought a third opinion about her operation before opting for the advice of the surgeon at Oxford.

After looking into the pros and cons of the post-operative therapies, she declined chemotherapy in favour of hormone therapy because it was less likely to damage her fertility.

She said: "I am only 30 and have been married for one year. It was extremely important to me to find a treatment that would not irreversibly damage my chances of having a baby."

She also researched the kinds of radiotherapy available and has opted for treatment in Ipswich where they use a pioneering technique that minimises the degree of radiation leakage around the site of the treatment.

She acknowledged that although it has been a battle, she has been able to make choices in her treatment, although she believes doctors are reluctant to give information.

She said: "I think they must hate patients like me who don't just sit back and do as they are told.

"But I feel that it is my body and I should be allowed to have full information about the treatment and to have some say in how they go ahead."

Her research led her to the conclusion that boosting her immune system should be an important part of her treatment while the hormone therapy continues and when the radiotherapy begins.

She has altered her diet to reduce foods that stimulate oestrogen and increased those that boost her immune system - all based on her own research. Now she would like Iscador to support the efforts she is making to strengthen her health.

She was shocked however to receive a letter dated Thursday, September 9, from the chief executive of Reading PCT Janet Fitzgerald which turned down her request for Iscador saying there were no special circumstances that would warrant its use.

Mrs Fitzgerald added: "It may also be helpful to explain that the current policy of patient choice does not extend to cancer services."

Her request was also reviewed by the acting chairman of the PCT Colin Pincombe who wrote that "no exceptional circumstances were demonstrated to suggest" she would benefit from the Iscador treatment.

A spokesman for Royal Berkshire Hospital said the use of homeopathic drugs was a matter for the Berkshire priorities committee drawn from the